The present invention relates generally to the field of seats, and more particularly to the field of folding vehicle seats.
A wide variety of vehicle seating designs and devices (e.g., preferably for use in positions other than the driver position) are known. The variety of such seats is increasing at a rapid pace with the increasing popularity of untraditional vehicles as compared to the standard two-row sedans, wagons and trucks. For example, vans, sport utility vehicles (SUV), cross-over utility vehicles (CUV); station wagons, pick-up trucks, and other vehicles include additional rows of seating, and many of them provide for the reconfiguration and/or removal of seats to increase the cargo storage space for the vehicle.
In larger SUVs, vans and even minivans, there is sufficient room within the entire vehicle that there is not such a need to provide a second and/or third row vehicle seat that can be stowed in a relatively ultra compact package. However, to have such an option would be advantageous. Notwithstanding, it has been common to provide conventional vehicle seats in such larger vehicles and to provide some level of adjustment or folding to give the vehicle user additional storage options and area.
In relatively smaller SUVs, minivans, CUVs and station wagons, there is less room to provide a relatively bulky and massive vehicle seat since the vehicle user typically desires as much cargo space as possible but still wants the ability to provide occupant seating for up to seven or eight occupants.
In many cases, the seats which are used for such purposes (and in particular for third row applications) are used by vehicle passengers on only limited occasions, and the result has been that such seats are not particularly comfortable. Such seats also tend to be relatively bulky and, if left in the vehicle, reduce the amount of cargo space which may be used for a wide variety of purposes. Ultimately, many of the seating systems known to the art can be removed at the option of the operator and stored in the garage or other location where the vehicle is kept. However, conventional seats tend to be too heavy and bulky for removal by smaller operators or people who are elderly or otherwise do not have the sufficient strength to manipulate the heavy and bulky seat designs. While some devices have been developed to help in this regard such as by adding wheels to the seat, they have proved insufficient and there is a continued need to improve seats in this regard.
In view of the above, there is a current trend to develop thinner profile and lighter seats. However, these efforts have focused on optimizing current designs to simply be thinner and lighter resulting in decreased occupant comfort.
Numerous types of conventional devices are known for use in vehicle seats. For example, the use of an inflatable bladder is known for use with seating in back supporting or other localized areas as illustrated in Sopko, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,054, issued Aug. 18, 1964, for “Portable Chair Seat with a Back-Supporting Pneumatic Cushion.” Another “Inflatable Back Support for a Seat” is described in Vanderbilt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,601, issued Jun. 20, 1967. Back supports for non-vehicle seats are also known, as for example, the seat and back inflatable portions of the “Pneumatic Adjustment System for Seatback Panel” described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,126, issued Mar. 28, 1972, to Foiling.
Seat cushions also are known which have inflatable aspects. Alternating inflatable tubes (to enhance driver alertness) are provided in a “Seat Cushion” patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,732, issued Feb. 25, 1975, to Morrell. Hand inflatable lumbar supports which include an inflatable bladder and a special neck portion are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,200, issued May 21, 1985, to Armstrong for “Seat Pad with Adjustable Lumbar Support.”
An “Inflatable Seat Cushion” is described in Alter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,202, issued Dec. 6, 1988. This device includes an inflatable member mounted in the back section and positioned primarily to provide support for the lumbar region and which is adjustable based on the needs of a particular individual.
Numerous embodiments of seats are disclosed in Sekido et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,899, issued Oct. 30, 1990, for “Air Cushion for Chair and Chair Utilizing the Air Cushion” and Lorbiecki, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,050, issued Aug. 19, 1997, for “Vehicle Seat with Inflatable Bladder.” Conventional comfort seating structures which do not focus on the use of inflatable systems include U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,972, issued Oct. 7, 1997, to Dudash et al., entitled “Vehicle Seat Assembly”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,553, issued May 21, 2002 to LeBlanc, for “Back-Support Device”; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,352, issued Sep. 24, 2002, to Konovalov et al. for “Car Seat Pad.”
One additional known vehicle seat suspension system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,410, to Brodersen, which discloses a scissors-jack type vehicle seat support frame for adjusting the position of a seat base of the vehicle seat. Brodersen discloses that the scissors-jack support frame is provided with a pneumatic member supporting the mechanism. Brodersen further discloses that a spring is fixed to an upper housing having a cable attached to the spring and an actuator knob connected to the other end of the cable to allow the occupant to tighten or loosen the cable and raise or lower the seat that is infinitely adjustable.
While a number of the conventional systems provide relatively enhanced comfort and support for a seat occupant, they do not address the needs of the field of this invention, i.e., comfortable seating usable within a vehicle such as in a third row application which will allow a vehicle user to have the preferred storage area in the vehicle and the needed ability to seat additional occupants. Further, there is a continued need to develop a vehicle seat that can be made foldable for storage or removal within less than a 200 millimeter thickness.
In particular, there remains a continued need to provide more storage area in a vehicle's cargo area while retaining as much functionality and convenience as possible. One conventional approach has been to provide rear seats that can be removed from the vehicle. However, such conventional seats are still considered too heavy for even most average users to remove. While other conventional approaches are known to provide a folding seat that can be stowed in the vehicle floor or bottom, conventional seats have not been designed to provide less than a 200 millimeter thickness. Thus, there is a continued need to develop a vehicle seat that can be made foldable for storage or removal within less than a 150 millimeter thickness and optimally within less than a 100 millimeter thickness package while still maximizing comfort.
Conventional folding seats have also been poorly designed since they require a large amount of floor space to be folded and stowed. Thus, there remains a need to provide a vehicle seat capable of providing a fold-in spot, compact foot print package in combination with a seat cushion contour presenting device capable of presenting a complete seat back cushion. There also remains a continued need to develop a vehicle seat that will, in a folded position, provide a minimized and light-weight cartridge and that will, in a deployed position, provide the support and comfort of a conventional, non-stowing type vehicle seat. Some conventional systems have attempted to develop solutions to vehicle seating which undesirably require changes to the vehicle's body, resulting in significant additional cost and highly undesirable lack of flexibility. Some conventional folding vehicle seat systems have provided foldable seats but once in the folded position have the highly undesirable drawback of not providing a flat load. Thus, there remains a continued need to provide a device usable in a vehicle seat and capable of solving the noted deficiencies with the prior art.